Press releases April 1994http://press.cern/press-releases/1994/04?created=
CERN press office - press releasesen"Infinitos"http://press.cern/press-releases/1994/04/infinitos
<span class="submitted-by">20 Apr 1994</span>
<div class="field-body">
<p>Geneva, 20 April 1994. On Friday, 22 April, a new science exhibition "Infinitos" illustrating man's current understanding of how the Universe works - from the tiniest structures of matter to the most far flung galaxies - will be inaugurated at the Museu de Electricidade in Lisbon by the President of Lisboa '94, Prof. Vitor Constancio, the Portuguese Science Minister, Prof. L. Valente de Oliveira, Prof. C. Llewellyn-Smith, Director General of CERN<sup>1</sup> and Dr. P. Creola, President of ESO<sup>2</sup> Council. This exhibition is part of a rich cultural program taking place at Lisbon during 1994 in the frame of "Lisboa 94 - European City of Culture" after which it will travel to major cities around Europe.</p>
<p>The frontiers of our knowledge push into inner space - the structure of the smallest components of matter - and into outer space - the dramatic phenomena of distant galaxies. Two of Europe's leading science organisations are playing a crucial role in this great human adventure. The European Laboratory for Particle Physics, CERN, operates the mighty accelerators and colliding beam machines to penetrate deep into matter and recreate the conditions which prevailed in the Universe a tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang. The European Southern Observatory, ESO, operates the largest optical observatory in the world with a range of advanced optical telescopes searching the sky to study the evolution and content of our Universe.</p>
<p>The "Infinitos" exhibition uses modern exhibition techniques; sophisticated audio-visual presentations and interactive video programmes. Visitors enter through a gallery of portraits of the most celebrated scientists from the 16th to 20th centuries and an exhibition of art inspired by scientific research. After passing a cosmic ray detector showing the streams of particles which pour down constantly from outer space, visitors pass into a central area where they are confronted with the essential questions of astro- and particle physics. "What is the Universe made of? How was the Universe created? What is in the sky? What is Dark Matter? Where does the stuff in our bodies come from? Are we alone in the Universe?" A central theme of this display is "What we don't know" and in the second part of the exhibition visitors are shown the instruments and techniques used in today's big science research which will help to provide the answers. There are special displays on Europe's future research projects such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, which will bring protons into head-on collision at higher energies (14 TeV) than ever before to allow scientists to penetrate still further into the structure of matter and recreate the conditions prevailing in the Universe just 10-12 seconds after the "Big Bang" when the temperature was 1016 degrees. Another highlight is a large interactive model of ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), the world's most ambitious telescope project, now under construction. The telescope's ability to see objects at the outer reaches of the Universe is clearly explained.</p>
<p>Special emphasis will be given to the contribution of Portuguese research institutes to the work of CERN and ESO, and particle physicists and astronomers from Portugal will be present at the exhibition to talk to visitors about their work.</p>
<p>This exhibition will remain open until 12 June 1994 and will be a major attraction to the many tourists visiting this year's European City of Culture.</p>
</div>
<h3 class="field-label">
Footnote(s) </h3>
<div class="field-footnote footnote-item">
<p>1. CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Israel, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Yugoslavia (status suspended after UN embargo, June 1992), the European Commission and Unesco have observer status.</p>
</div>
<div class="field-footnote footnote-item">
<p>2. ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is CERN's sister organisation in astronomy and astrophysics. Its Headquarters are in Garching near Munich, Germany. At present, the Member States are Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Portugal has been associated with ESO since 1990.</p>
</div>
Tue, 19 Apr 1994 22:00:00 +0000Dan Noyes571 at http://press.cernCERN Member States prepare for a decision on the Large Hadron Collider in June 1994http://press.cern/press-releases/1994/04/cern-member-states-prepare-decision-large-hadron-collider-june-1994
<span class="submitted-by">15 Apr 1994</span>
<div class="field-body">
<p>Geneva, 15 April 1994. The CERN<sup>1</sup> Council, where the representatives of the 19 Member States of the Organization decide on scientific programmes and financial resources, held its 99th session on 15 April under the chairmanship of Prof Hubert Curien (France).</p>
<h3>Council votes overwhelmingly for resolution in support of LHC</h3>
<p>Council delegates voted overwhelmingly - 18 Member States for, one abstention - to adopt the following resolution on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and CERN's long-term scientific programme.</p>
<h3>Council:</h3>
<ul><li>confirming its belief as stated in the Council's December 1991 Resolution that the LHC is the right machine for particle physics and for CERN;</li>
<li>being impressed by the scientific case and by the economical utilisation in the LHC project of investments previously made at CERN;</li>
<li>notes the overall strategy of CERN proposed for the years 1995 - 2005 and supports the Management in promoting the LHC as the central element of the long-term programme of CERN;</li>
<li>wishes to see the LHC implemented as part of the basic programme of the Laboratory, and wishes the project and its financing to be approved by general consensus;</li>
<li>is conscious of and welcomes the world interest in the project, wishes that involvement of non-Member State physicists should be on the understanding that usage on a significant scale must involve the contribution of resources to the project by the non-Member States concerned, and supports the prospect of creating an appropriate status for the participation of non- Member States making significant contributions;</li>
<li>notes that a flexible range of funding options exists, building where appropriate on current expectations concerning supplementary contributions, including options which would allow the LHC to be constructed without such contributions;</li>
<li>endorses the proposed comprehensive review of the progress of the project, to be carried out at an appropriate moment and in any case before the end of 1997 in order to define more precisely the timetable for execution of the project in the light of the foreseen funding;</li>
<li>expresses its best intention to move to a decision to approve the LHC during the first half of 1994.</li>
</ul><h3>Successful test of 10 metre LHC Magnet</h3>
<p>A major milestone in magnet development was passed when the first 10 metre long prototype bending magnet for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was successfully tested at CERN on 14 April when the magnet reached a field of 8.67 Tesla (T). For the protons in LHC to reach the collision energy of 14 TeV, LHC's high technology superconducting electromagnets have to provide a magnetic field of 8.65 T in two beam apertures with the superconducting cable windings operating at a temperature of 1.8K (-271.2û C).</p>
<p>The successful prototype magnet was made in Italy and is the result of collaboration between CERN and the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN). It is one of a series of seven prototypes, designed at CERN and being built in European Industry. In the tests, the magnet in its cryostat of superfluid Helium reached the LHC design field of 8.65 T at the first attempt without any "training", the settling of the superconducting coils into the optimum position within the magnet. The first "quench", when the coils lost their superconductivity due to micro-movements of the Niobium/Titanium conductors, occurred at 8.67 T. The magnet was then powered again to 8.73 T and ran at this field level for about 15 min, without any further quench.</p>
<p>This remarkable result confirms the validity of the magnet design and the ability of European Industry to take up the challenge of constructing the LHC.</p>
</div>
<h3 class="field-label">
Footnote(s) </h3>
<div class="field-footnote footnote-item">
<p>1. CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Israel, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Yugoslavia (status suspended after UN embargo, June 1992), the European Commission and Unesco have observer status.</p>
</div>
Thu, 14 Apr 1994 22:00:00 +0000Dan Noyes573 at http://press.cern